Rocket's Secret
by theaspiringwriter23
Summary: Mantis wants to pet and coo at Rocket so badly but Rocket won't let her...until she finds out his secret. This fic is based off of the two scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy volume 2 where Mantis called Rocket cute and adorable


Mantis was standing nervously outside Rocket's door. She wanted to talk to him about something but, despite finding him adorable, she was also kind of scared of him after he tried biting her hand off. And she was afraid he'd do the same thing again, especially with what she was about to say.

However, she needed to get it off her chest. She took a deep sigh and knocked on the door. The door opened and Rocket looked up at her.

"Hey Mantis, I'm a little busy, what the hell do you want?", Rocket asked, a little annoyed.

"Your friends have...said that you are not fond of being called things like _cute_ and _adorable_ ", Mantis said, nervous.

"Yeah, I don't, and I'm not exactly a fan of you calling me that shit either", Rocket said, "so what?"

"Well, they also said that...you are not the team pet", Mantis went on.

"No, I'm not, I'm as much of a person as YOU or anyone else on the team", Rocket said defensively.

"Well, I don't know you that well, I know, but I do look forward to knowing more about you and finding you to be a person", Mantis said.

"Umm...okay?", Rocket said.

"But, and while I will try my best to consider you a person in the future, can I ask for one favor?", Mantis asked.

"What?", Rocket asked.

"Can I pet you and talk to you in a baby voice?".

This got Rocket angry and he started growling.

I'll only do it once, I just need to get it out of my system! I promise you, if I just pet you and coo at you this one time, I won't do it again and I will treat you like you want to be treated!", Mantis pleaded.

"No way am I EVER going to let you pet me!", Rocket said, angrily, "I'm not a pet, I'm a person, and YOUR just going ta have to get used to it!"

"I do want to see you as a person, I just need to get it all out! Can't you understand?!", Mantis asked.

"NO!", Rocket shouted.

"What if I, uhh, rubbed your belly?", Mantis offered.

This made Rocket pause. He hated to admit it but he kind've actually liked having his belly rubbed. Oh, he'd NEVER ask the other Guardians to rub it, he just couldn't do that kind've stuff with them, but Groot rubbed his belly a lot when they were alone together and he kind've found it to be relaxing. However, Groot's hands were a little too small to rub his belly right now so he hadn't gotten his belly rubbed in a while.

He sighed and decided to let Mantis do this stuff to him. Plus he was trying to be a little nicer to his teammates, especially after Yondu had really teared into him and made him realize why he was being such a jerk to others, so this might be a start.

"Fine, you can do this crap, but ONLY THIS ONCE! And you can NEVER tell the other Guardians this happened!", Rocket said.

"I promise, my friend", Mantis said.

She then picked him up and cradled him in her arms.

"Woah woah woah, I never said you could pick me up!", Rocket said.

"Aww look at you, you're so...cute! Yes you are! Yes you are!", Mantis cooed. Then she walked into his room with Rocket in her arms and closed the door.

Mantis was cradling him in her arms and looked at him like someone would look at a baby or a puppy in their arms.

"Whose a cute little fuzzy wuzzy puppy?! You are!", Mantis kept cooing.

"Flark my life", Rocket murmured.

Mantis sat down and then put Rocket on her lap. She then started petting him continuously.

"You're fur is so soft, Rocky poo", Mantis said, "I could stroke you all day"

"Yeah yeah", Rocket said, defeated.

"Whose fur is soft? Yours is! Yes it is!", Mantis cooed.

"This is going to be a long day", Rocket said annoyed.

Truthfully, though, while he could do without the cooing, he enjoyed the petting...kind of. He thought it was kind've demeaning, after all it's something people do to ANIMALS, especially their pets (hell, it's in the name for crying out loud), but he'd be lying if he said it didn't feel kind of soothing.

But then he got what he really wanted.

"Now let's rub your belly! Do you want your little belly rubbed?! Do ya?! Do ya?!", Mantis asked.

She put Rocket on his back and started rubbing his belly. This REALLY felt good for Rocket. Having her rub his belly back and forth, over and over again, put him in a trance and made him feel really relaxed for the first time in his life. Only thing that could've been better was if Mantis didn't keep cooing at him.

"Does that...feel good? Huh...little fella? Does it? Does it?", Mantis kept cooing.

He could've done without that. Otherwise, there was just something relaxing about her belly rubs. In fact, he started falling asleep. Something about it just really made him want to close his eyes and take in the moment.

"Okay, I'm done", Mantis said.

It was a few minutes (maybe hours) later and Mantis had stopped rubbing his belly.

"Umm...are ya sure?", Rocket asked.

"Yes, I got it all out of my system", Mantis said, "I won't treat you like that anymore. Thank you my friend for letting me do that, even if it was a little...demeaning for you. I...really appreciate it".

She started to leave.

"Hey!", Rocket said.

She stopped.

"Now I hate all that coochie coochie coo, you're so cute junk and I don't like being picked up or pet either but...if you want, you can rub my belly again!", Rocket said.

Mantis got ecstatic.

"REALLY?!", Mantis said, excited.

"Yes BUT let me set some guidelines! First of all, before you rub my belly, either I ask you to do it or you ask me. And we can't do it around the other Guardians or anyone else, whether or not we know them. If anyone knew I liked getting my belly rubbed, it would ruin my rep! Also, pick me up or talk while you rub my belly. Or, at the very least, don't coo at me again or call me stuff like _cute_ , _adorable_ , or any synonym for that! And don't pet me again! Got it?!", Rocket said.

"Yes, I promise to do all that", Mantis said.

"Okay, good, now get out of my room!", Rocket ordered.

"I am Groot..."

Groot, who they all forgot about, was watching the whole time.

"Groot, you were here this whole time?! Thank god no one can hear you, otherwise I'd be ruined!", Rocket said.

Groot sighed.

"I am Groot?"

"What do you mean is there a nicer way you can say that?", Rocket asked.

"I am Groot", Groot said matter of factly. Rocket sighed and looked at Mantis.

"Mantis, it was nice to be with you but could you please get out of my room?", Rocket said forcefully.

"Okay Rocket, I'll see you around", Mantis said.

Mantis left the room. Rocket looked at Groot, who smirked.

"Don't-say-anything", Rocket threatened.

"I am Groot"

"Bonding with her? I wasn't bonding with her!", Rocket said.

"I am Groot?"

"Okay maybe. I know I should be nicer but sometimes it's easier said than done", Rocket said, defeated, "though I guess this is a start"

Rocket and Groot hung out. If there was one person Rocket was comfortable being around, it was Groot. He's not sure he'll ever be as comfortable with the rest of the Guardians, especially Mantis, but sometimes all he could was try.

THE END


End file.
